9 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Comics We Want from Marvel

We're pretty happy with the state of Marvel's new Star Wars comics so far. It felt weird to rank all of them seeing how they are all so darn good, but we did it anyway. If we had to have a problem with the current lineup, it would be that most of the books have been confined to a pretty narrow segment of the Star Wars timeline. We want to see more comics that venture outside the confines of the Original Trilogy and explore the tumultuous period after Return of the Jedi. With The Force Awakens now in theaters, we can only assume Marvel now has the greenlight to play in a whole new sandbox.

Exit Theatre Mode

Having watched the new movie as much as humanly possible over the last few days, we're excited about the prospect of new Star Wars comics that flesh out the more than 30 years in between Episodes VI and VII. We've put together a wish list of nine different comics we want to see Marvel publish to build on the characters and revelations from The Force Awakens.

Captain Phasma

Unfortunately, Captain Phasma was something of a disappointment in The Force Awakens. She looked cool and had an imposing presence, but she didn't actually do much besides bark orders and get tossed down a garbage chute off camera. We'd say she's like the Boba Fett of the new trilogy, but even Fett had the distinction of outsmarting Han Solo before meeting an ignominious end.

With that in mind, Phasma really needs a dedicated mini-series that can flesh out her character and establish why everyone in the First Order is so terrified of her. Who is this mysterious, armor-clad soldier? Is she a product of conditioning like the Stormtroopers? How did she work her away up the ranks, and how did she build her reputation? Why does she wear that gleaming silver armor and a cape, aside from the fact that it looks so legit? With any luck, Marvel can build her into the villain everyone expected her to be.

The Knights of Ren

If Phasma proved a bit disappointing, the same can't be said for the tortured Dark Jedi Kylo Ren. The Force Awakens alluded to this villain's tragic past and the fact that he is the leader of a mysterious group known as the Knights of Ren. Sadly, our only glimpse of these feared warriors came in the form of one brief shot during the chaos of Rey's Force-induced visions, apparently a flashback to the fateful day they destroyed Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy.

Needless to say, we want to know more about the Knights of Ren. Who are these characters? Are they all Force users? If they called themselves knights, what was their crusade? How was Ben Solo brought into their number? Are they still active in the galaxy? It's probably too much to hope that Marvel will be allowed to cover much when it comes to Kylo Ren's early life as Ben Solo, Jedi Padawan, but there should be plenty of room to explore the exploits of Kylo and his fellow knights.

The Adventures of Han Solo & Chewbacca

The more things change in the Star Wars universe, the more they stay the same. That's as true for Han Solo and his faithful Wookiee partner as anyone else. When these two icons returned in The Force Awakens, viewers learned that they had reverted to a life of smuggling and skirting the law. Evidently, they had been back at it for many years before stumbling across Rey and Finn and being sucked back into the battle for the galaxy.

No doubt there are some interesting stories to tell during those missing years. And with the upcoming Han Solo movie focusing on the scruffy hero's earlier years, there's plenty of room for Marvel to dig into this period of Han and Chewie's life. On the surface, a post-Return of the Jedi Han and Chewie series might not be that different from a pre-A New Hope series. But what intrigues us most is the idea that this older Han would be burdened by the pain of losing his family and everything he fought for during the original Trilogy. There would be a undercurrent of sadness driving his larger-than-life adventures.

The Life and Times of FN-2187

Unlike fellow budding Jedi Rey, The Force Awakens told us pretty much everything we need to know about Finn. He was taken from his family as a young child, was conditioned to become an obedient soldier and chose to defect from the First Order rather than blindly obey orders. And while he's not quite as strong in the Force as Rey, it's clear he has a promising future as a Jedi Knight ahead of him (assuming he recovers from that nasty saber wound). Unless Finn's parents turn out to be familiar faces, there's not necessarily much that needs to be revealed about his early life.

All that being said, we'd love to see a mini-series that delves into Finn's troubled past. This book wouldn't just recount Finn's life, but also provide an account of what it's like to grow up as a First Order recruit and exactly how the organization's conditioning program works. The Stromtroopers of the Original Trilogy might have just been faceless soldiers, but the same needn't be true for these troopers.

Exit Theatre Mode

The Origin of Rey

This one is probably a long shot, but we're going to include it anyway. Many of the biggest questions in the aftermath of The Force Awakens surround Rey and her place in the galaxy. Who are her parents? Why was she abandoned on Jakku? Why is she so strong in the Force? Were her childhood memories forcibly suppressed? So why not give fans a comic book that addresses all these questions and fleshes out this mysterious heroine's past?

The obvious answer is because that material is probably off limits until Episode VIII drops in 2017. And even then, we could see Disney choosing to save this story for a TV series or even a spinoff film rather than a comic book. But even if Marvel simply publishes a standalone story about Rey's harsh life on Jakku, we think a lot of Rey fanatics would be thrilled.